Wednesday, January 2, 2013

County Refuses Newspaper Request for Gun Data

Update: According to this report, the paper has (ironically) now hired armed guards to patrol its property after receiving so many angry phone and mail messages from readers andgun owners. No specific threat cited.

Earlier: For two weeks I've been following my local paper publishing and mapping data on who holds gun permits here in upstate New York, in two counties, Westchester and Rockland--sparking much debate and controversy. But a third county, Putnam (home of Rogers Ailes), continues to hold out in providing the names and addresses, perhaps illegally, and the newspaper is still pushing.

Putnam County officials, who say they will refuse a newspaper’s
request to release the names and addresses of residents with pistol
permits, would break state law by withholding the data, a state official
said.The opinion, of state Committee on
Open Government Executive Director Robert Freeman, came after an
announcement Tuesday by state Sen. Greg Ball and two Putnam officials
that they would refuse to release the data requested by The Journal News
of White Plains, which sought the records under the state Freedom of
Information Law.

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G.M. is the author of more than a dozen books (click on covers above and below), the longtime editor of Editor & Publisher and until recently a daily writer for The Nation. Email: epic1934@aol.com. Twitter: @GregMitch